Q. When did Elika form, tell us about the beginning…A. We started this band in 2005 in the village of Elika, which is in Greece. We had an acoustic guitar, a shitty laptop, and a microphone and wrote our first three songs. It developed from there.

Q. What are the band’s influences?A. Everyday life, family and each other.

Q. Tell us about the recording process for the debut album, and the new one?A. Can barely remember the debut. We used the program Acid and just tried to create something that sounded good to us. The new one is more professional, we’ve learned a lot through trial and error and have applied it to the process. Live and learn.

Q. Tell us about playing live?A. Who really wants to see 30 year olds on stage? However, when we do play, we’ve stripped our gear down to the minimum because we got sick of carrying huge amps. We try and make it as easy as possible so we can just play and enjoy the moment.

Q. How did last year’s gigs go?A. Two of our favorites were opening for our friend’s Asobi Seksu at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and the performing at the Off Festival de Québec. Good music, good crowds, and good company.

Q. What do you think about the classic shoegaze era?A. I think there were a few great bands and a handful of classic tracks; pretty much the same as any scene.

Q. Tell us about bands in the current shoegaze scene…A. For the most part, we feel disconnected from it. I think in a lot of ways our presence is more peripheral because we have so many elements in our music that have nothing to do with shoegaze.

Q. Which new bands do you recommend?A. Anybody on Automatic Entertainment, Fiercely Indie, Chat Blanc, or Thisquietarmy Records.

Q. Which songs by other bands would you like to do cover versions of?A. We really aren’t into cover song, but two tracks that we’ve always talked about doing are “20 Dollar Bills” by Starflyer 59 and a slow-core version of “Angel of Death” by Slayer.

Q. What are the plans for the future?A. Our new album, “Snuggle Bunnies,” will be released October 29th, 2010 via the Peruvian label Automatic Entertainment. Just before its release, the video for our first single will be out. We are very excited about the release! There will also be some shows in support of the album this autumn and winter. Right now it looks like we’ll be heading back to Lima for some gigs and a 5 city tour of China is in the works. We definitely want to get to Brasil too; if we can work out the timing. We both have full time jobs so travelling for music is a luxury.

Q. Any important news to tell us?A. We’re thinking of moving to a farm next summer.*